1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to addiction recovery and, more particularly, to an interactive and computer based system for assisting individuals who are in the process of recovering from various addictive dependencies.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many people experience in their lives an addiction to various things which cause them to lose control over their lives and suffer periods of unhappiness. These addictions include chemical dependency, e.g., an addition to alcohol, drugs, or food; behavioral dependency, e.g., an addiction to gambling or sex; and co-dependency, an addiction to the behavior of other people. The process of coming out of these addictions includes at least two steps: rehabilitation and recovery. Rehabilitation is the process by which an "addict" learns to abstain from addictive substances or behavior while recovery is the inner healing process by which a former addict returns to full and complete mental health.
In the early part of this century there were virtually no treatments for addictive behavior. Addicts were censored by society and either thrown out on the street, jailed or hospitalized. A major revolution in the treatment of addictive behavior occurred in 1935 with the advent of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) which promulgated a twelve step program by which an addict could escape the clutches of his or her addiction and reassume control over his/her life and relationships. A fundamental part of the AA program is that alcoholics must stop denying their addictions and take responsibility for their actions. Such responsibility includes the attendance of regular meetings of recovering alcoholics which provide both perspective and group support to an individual undergoing the addiction recovery process. In 1955, the American Medical Association (AMA) defined alcoholism as a disease and removed a certain amount of stigma associated with it and thereby furthered the process by which people could come out of their addictions. Since 1935 the AA program, the twelve steps, the so-called Big Book and other literature along with thousands of support group meetings available each day across the United States and the world have changed the lives of millions of people.
The AA program has been emulated by many other fraternal organizations and today there are some 120 fraternities in the United States devoted to assisting its members in their recovery from addictions. These organizations sponsor over 500,000 meetings in the United States each week and are attended by upwards of 10 million individuals. However, despite the enormous progress of addiction recovery techniques on both social and individual levels, the distress of those in the recovery process remains high.
It is generally taken to be true that among the total population of dependents and co-dependents, 33% will never obtain complete abstinence from the object of their addiction; 52% will abstain from the object of their addiction but will carry on their lives with various degrees of so-called "dry drunk" behaviors and attitudes; and only 15% will fully recover. Addiction is a response: a response to pain. These statistics mean that a huge number of people will remain in deep pain throughout their lives unless they can successfully accomplish full recovery and return to complete mental and physical health.
Over the years since the advent of the AA program in 1935, many changes have taken place in the therapeutic mechanism used in the treatment of addictions. Among these, there have been significant changes in psychological treatment techniques, in communications and in data transfer and availability. Addiction is now perceived to be a family disease in which both the individual dependent and his or her spouse have problems to face. Other changes in therapeutic addiction recovery techniques are grounded in the understanding that traits, profile and behaviors of a "significant other" toward the addict frequently fall within the description of the term "co-dependent." Moreover, addictions and other forms of dysfunctional behavior have been shown to be passed on from generation to generation. The pain associated with this behavior is usually rooted in the "child" within each individual implying that dysfunctional behaviors and strategies are generated as a response to conditioning formed during very early years of development, i.e., 0-6 years old.
Throughout this period, however, various self help groups, meetings and sponsors implemented by AA, the twelve steps and the Big Book, have accomplished enormous results for literally millions of people.
On the downside of dependency recovery developments during the past 60 years, classic psychiatry has been of little help with respect to the large populations of persons who are both still in the throes of addiction and those attempting a recovery process. Around 1955, Professor Albert Ellis began the postulation and structuring of Rational Emotive Therapy (R.E.T.) with the publication of numerous books which expounded its principles in conjunction with Behavioral Therapy (B.T.). In addition, significant progress has also been made through Cognitive Therapy and the contributions of Dr. Aaron Beck who has supplied many potent tools useful in the recovery process. AA has chosen to remain linear in its program and teachings and has not integrated other findings and therapies into its program. In addition, academia, classic psychology and psychiatry have very little to do with therapy groups, meetings, the twelve step process or its spirituality components regardless of whether it is of the faithless or faithful format. Moreover, classic psychology and psychiatry have restricted themselves to "1-on-1" therapy in an office setting rather than attempting any integration with other successful tools for addiction recovery.
The history of addiction recovery over the last 50 years indicates the need for better programs and tools for assisting those undergoing the recovery process. The American Psychiatric Association estimates that approximately 8% of the adult population in the United States is dependent upon alcohol. The same percentage is considered to be at risk of abusing alcohol. Today alcohol and chemical dependence is considered to be a family disease directly correlated to the existence of co-dependence in personal relationships thereby affecting both the children and the spouse of the addict. For example, teen-age children may, due to peer pressure and/or a lack of self-esteem, engage in habitual behavior which is both addictive and destructive in nature. Notwithstanding other chemical dependencies and other types of behavioral dependencies, i.e., just looking at the statistically extrapolated numbers related to the abuse of alcohol together with its effect on the spouses of addicts, something on the order of 30% of the entire adult population of the United States may be involved. If, for the sake of argument, other known dependencies such as food, drugs, sex, work, gambling and the like are included, the number of persons affected by addictions in the United States may be on the order of 50% of the adult population.
Many persons who are dependent rely upon the professional care of a rehabilitation center to assist them in working their way out of their dependence, while many try to extract themselves alone. Regardless of which path they follow, most recovering addicts are susceptible to slips and relapses. Invariably, all experience the "black hole" of recovery, and, instead of getting better, they may get worse. While undergoing recovery, numerous feelings and emotions start to command the recovering addict's attention and self evaluating questions proliferate, such as: Why did I do that?; Who am I?; What prompted my behavior in the first place?; How do I deal with all this pain?; Can I really recover?; What are the paths to recovery?; Will it work?; How much effort will it take?; Can my behaviors really be changed?; and many others. All persons undergoing recovery relive the trauma from the past and the questions and the nightmares of waking up and not knowing where to go or how to get there.
For certain reasons, there is very little social support for persons recovering from addictions. Support comes almost exclusively from the numerous fraternities which have developed, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), Overeaters Anonymous (O.A.), Cocaine Anonymous (C.A.), Gamblers Anonymous (G.A.), Adult Children of Alcoholics (ACOA), Co-Dependants Anonymous (CODA), AL-ANON (for the spouses of alcoholics), ALA-TEEN (for the teenage children of alcoholics) and others. AA has single-handedly assisted in the recovery of millions of people and spawned a following with such momentum that today there are approximately 500,000 groups that meet each week in America. This includes upwards of 10 million individuals attending meetings each week.
Most of the addiction recovery support fraternities take for granted that full recovery takes more than five years; the first five years "being the worst." It is unquestionable that recovery is a very slow and painful process and one can do little more than go to support group meetings, follow the guidelines from the twelve step process, and read a few books.
Significant changes come to the recovering addict through a number of different sources. For example, within the realm of psychology and psychiatry, the tools and methods recently developed are both efficient and effective. From rehabilitation centers, notably those associated with the Hazelden Foundation, and from leading practicing therapists we have recently witnessed the emergence of rich structural concepts such as generational dysfunctionality and co-dependence which are extremely helpful in the recovery process. In addition, useful books and numerous tools for testing, monitoring, evaluating and scoring those engaged in the recovery process are very helpful.
For those interested in the recovery process, the debates regarding the value of different therapeutic techniques range between science and community concerning the acceptability of new concepts and the usefulness of spirituality in the recovery process. Although the majority of dependents and co-dependents find many of the new concepts useful and also believe that some spirituality is important in the recovery process, nevertheless the debate continues. For people actively involved with assisting recovering addicts, the only relevant issue is efficiency. When a practice gives good results in recovery and when concepts are helpful in finding a way out for the person who is suffering, they are deemed to be useful and rewarding.
Spirituality has been shown to be a key element in assisting individuals in the recovery process. This involves two forms of spirituality: faithless and faithful. Faithless spirituality results from the general positioning system needed by an addict in the first and second phases of rehabilitation and recovery. It corresponds to a buildup of some essential metaphysical questions concerning self, others, the world and the general acquisition of relationship and forms of power. Faithless spirituality relates to destiny, to freedom, to powers of the universe and not to notions of a higher power. On the other hand, the "faithful" form of spirituality is that by which the individual integrates some attributes of reciprocity into these relationships and perhaps elements of finality. Spirituality, whether of the faithless or faithful type, is something misunderstood when it is deemed to belittle individuals. For most people, the very great majority of dependents and co-dependents, the integration of this dimension of faith assists in finding, articulating and incorporating the principles and guidelines into one's own self and consequently into action.
While many individual elements have proven to be useful in the recovery process, there remains a great need for coordinated and well defined integration of the various elements of a successful recovery into a single system. The system of the present invention proposes a new tool and methodology for programming recovery from various addictions.